As we trust everyone knows by now, MMY is planning a

15th Anniversary Dinner on May 24th at the Heritage Museum in Battery Park, NY. The Dinner, in support of our capital campaign for the new campus in Baka is being spearheaded by Rabbi David Katz. 

Even though he is capable of doing countless things very well, a project of this type must be supported by many others for it to be a success. He has gathered a committed group of parents who have volunteered their time towards this endeavor.   One person who stands out as an initiator of the project is Mrs. Debbie Margolin, mother of Rachel (5770).  Last summer, she planted the seeds of this exciting undertaking by offering Rabbi Katz her time and energy to help organize a Dinner. The rest is history and we are all looking forward to meeting in a few months to celebrate the accomplishments of MMY, our students and their families.

While she and her daughter were visiting Israel last week, we had a few minutes to speak with her about the planning stages of the Dinner and what motivated her decision to be involved in this very time-consuming project.

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Parshat Teruma

Shoshana Mogilner

 This Shabbat, we will be reading Parshat Terumah. Throughout the entire parsha, we are given a blueprint of the mishkan's physical structure, down to the finest detail. Reading through the perakim is almost like reading through an architect's blueprint for a building. The question that evidently arises upon reading this is, what is it about the mishkan on a physical level that warrants so many perakim devoted to its construction and such intricate description? 

In one of Rabbi Twersky's weekly parsha shiurim that I had the zechut to attend last year while at MMY, he addressed this very point, and added a whole new dimension to the chashivut of the mishkan and its construction.   Read more>> 

"Tochnit Shiluv - Bet Midrash"

Gets Off to an Exciting Start

As you may know, this year MMY has incorporated an exciting new "Tochnit Shiluv" which exposes MMY students to Israelis and helps integrate them into Israeli society.  For Shana Bet, the program offers a combination of regular classes in MMY, Sherut Leumi service and Ulpan.  This month, we launched the Shana Aleph division of the program - our exciting new Bet Midrash Shiluv program, in which participating students are paired up with an Israeli Sherut Leumi girl as a chevruta during night seder.

The program takes place once a week during Sunday's Night Seder. The chevrutot are given source sheets to learn together for the first hour, and then this is followed by a shiur given by Mrs. Ora Derovan. The chevruta learning, as well as the shiurim, are conducted exclusively in Hebrew. In addition, girls in the Tochnit Shiluv have committed to learn an extra half hour each time, extending night seder to 10:15 pm.

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Alumnae Profiles / Testimonials

Dr. Tzipi (Feldman) Schneider - MMY 5758 

Dr. Tzipi Schneider (once known as Valerie Feldman from Los Angeles) is a pediatrician living in Ramat Gan.  She is an alumna of 5758, one of MMY's first years.  We recently caught up with her to interview her about her experiences in MMY and in the years subsequently:

MMY:  Let's start with Shana Aleph.  Tell us about your experiences in MMY.

TS:  It is hard to believe that in my current state as a wife, mother and pediatrician, I still see my year in Israel as such an influential one.  The memories remain vivid and the colors vibrant. 

I was seventeen, just out of high school.  I had loved my high school years at YULA in Los Angeles.  But this was different.  At MMY I was not only learning Torah and learning about Eretz Yisrael, I was now feeling Torah and feeling Eretz Yisrael.  That emotional attachment to Torat Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael was irrevocably sealed early on in my young adulthood, thanks to the wonderful experiences and teachers I had at MMY.

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On the 14th of Cheshvan this past fall, Mr. Yossi Shachnovitz of Fair Lawn, NJ passed away after a 14-month battle with cancer.  Yossi's daughter Sivan learned in MMY during 5769, just before her father became ill.  During the shiva Ely Wise, one of Sivan's friends from MMY, decided that something should be done by Sivan's friends to help memorialize her father.  She decided to organize a Siyum Tanach, and quickly sent an email around telling everyone of the idea.  "In MMY we were always told that we are a family. Unfortunately, that means that we all have to pull together in the tougher times as well", Ely wrote.  She put up a Google Doc spreadsheet with a list of all the books in Tanach, and within a few hours the entire Tanach was divided up among the Talmidot and madrichot from 5769, and a few of the teachers.  The Siyum was completed in time for the Shloshim.

At the conclusion of the project, Ely sent around a beautiful Dvar Torah encapsulating the significance of what they had done.   Read more>>

Please

email us

 to tell us if you can make it.  ("Maybes" are also OK)

Alumnae Return for Winter Break

As is the case every year, tens of talmidot returned to MMY during their Winter vacation for special shiurim, to see their teachers or just to reconnect.  Some came for an hour or two, some for ten days or two weeks (taking advantage of the rare empty apartment we had available this year), and everything possible in between.  The special Melave Malka at Mrs. Katz's house was a particular hit! 

Naomi Rabinovich (MMY 5771) had this to say about the experience:  "Coming back to MMY this winter vacation really exceeded my expectations. I thought I was coming back to visit Eretz Yisrael, hang out with my friends, learn, and see my teachers. I didnt realize to what extent the staff at MMY would go out of their way for us. From putting us up in our own dira, to hosting us for shabboses and making a melave malka, not to mention all of the extra shiurim and smoozes that the teachers gave us, everyone really made us feel as at home as we did during our shana aleph. It was nice to see that the famous MMY line 'there is no such thing as a former Talmida' isnt just a saying; it is a mentality that they really take to heart."